D-troit: Tigers Finally Achieve Uniformity on Their Uniforms

By Paul Lukas, on January 26th, 2018

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Big news yesterday out of Detroit, where the Tigers announced that they will no longer have separate versions of the old English “D” on their caps and home jerseys. The cap version will now be used on the jersey, and the cap logo is also being enlarged. The jersey version has been mothballed. I’ve known about this move for months but wasn’t at liberty to talk about it.

In case you need a quick refresher course: The Tigers have had literally dozens of “D” logos over the years. The current cap mark has been used since 1968, and the now-discarded jersey mark since 1934. Here’s a side-by-side comparison:

(If you want to learn more, designer/historian Todd Radom has written extensively about the various “D” logos — look here, here, and here.)

Some thoughts on yesterday’s announcement:

• The cap mark became the team’s primary logo in 2016, so on some level it’s not surprising that that’s the one they chose to keep.

• It is, of course, ridiculous that a Major League Baseball team would have such a glaring logo inconsistency — and that’s precisely what I loved about it. It was a bizarre eccentricity that over the course of a half-century had become baked into the team’s DNA. Standardizing the “D” makes sense from a variety of practical standpoints, but sometimes things can become too standardized, too sterile, too rote. It feels like something charming has been lost.

• If they had to go with one logo, I would have preferred seeing the jersey logo retained and used on the cap, not the other way around. I’ve always thought that the jersey logo looks more elegant, while the cap mark looks more pinched and severe.

• As for the enlargement of the cap logo, my initial thought is that I like it, especially for the road cap. I’ve always felt that the orange road “D” didn’t quite “pop” enough against the navy cap and that the logo looked a bit too small as a result. Let’s compare the old version with the newly enlarged version:

Did they go overboard and make it too big? Eh, maybe. But I want to see it on the field before passing final judgment.

• Of course, the Tigers aren’t the only team with logo inconsistencies. The Yankees have three distinct logos on their jerseys, caps, and batting helmets. Personally, I’m hoping they keep it that way.

• • • • •

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Back to the Future: Most of you probably know that MLB’s infamous “Turn Ahead the Clock” promotion, featuring teams in garish “futuristic” uniforms, took place in 1999. But you may not know or remember that the 1999 program was based on a one-off futuristic promotion by the Mariners in 1998. (For more info on that, check out this ESPN column that I wrote back in 2008.)

So this season will mark the 20th anniversary of the Mariners’ original TATC night, and they’re celebrating with a “Back to the Future” Night, when they’ll reprise the futuristic unis that they wore for that game in 1998. Or to put it another way, they’re doing a throwback promotion for a futuristic promotion. TBTC to TATC! Good stuff.

The game will be on June 30, when the M’s will be hosting the Royals — the same team that was in town for the original TATC game in 1998. Here’s what the Royals wore in that game:

Unfortunately, they won’t be reviving that design for this year’s TATC rematch. Instead, they’ll wear this:

And while the original uniforms from 1998 definitely made a statement, we'll pay homage to them in more tasteful take on a futuristic uniform on June 30 in Seattle. Check out a sneak peek… pic.twitter.com/viU32igj5I

Is that design “more tasteful,” as described in the tweet? Sure. But the whole point of TATC is that good taste goes out the window. Disappointing that the Royals aren’t holding up their end of things.

Still, it should be a fun game. Now let’s hope MLB does something similar for the 20th anniversary of the 1999 league-wide TATC promotion next year.

• • • • •

Xciting news: As you’ve probably heard by now, Vince McMahon is bringing back the XFL in 2020. Some quick thoughts on that:

• The advance word had been that McMahon was going to launch a new football league but that it wasn’t clear whether he’d revive the XFL name. I figured he wouldn’t resurrect the old moniker because (a) the original XFL failed and, more importantly, (b) the whole “X” thing that was prevalent in popular culture back in 2001 (Generation X, The X Files, blah-blah-blah) feels terribly dated now. So I’m surprised he opted to go that route.

• That said, the new XFL logo, shown above, is miles better than the original one from 2001.

• McMahon says this version of the XFL won’t be as gimmicky. For example, they might not allow nickNOBs. And while they haven’t yet announced what the team names will be, here’s hoping they do better than last time, when it seemed like their guiding principle was to make every team sound like a bunch of sociopaths (Orlando Rage, Memphis Maniax, Los Angeles Xtreme, etc.).

• I’m curious to see which company does the uniforms. Like, if you’re Nike or Under Armour, do you want to be associated with the XFL? (Side question: If you’re Nike, does your NFL contract preclude you from outfitting the XFL?) And in case you can’t recall, the XFL’s original outfitter was Champion.

• • • • •

“What’s It Worth?” reminder: In case you missed it yesterday, I announced a new partnership with Grey Flannel Auctions. If you have a potentially valuable collectible, GFA will appraise it at no charge, and with no obligation. Think of it as an online version of Antiques Roadshow. Full details here.

• • • • •

The TickerBy Kris Gross

Baseball News: The new Hall of Fame inductees received their Hall of Fame jerseys. As you may recall, a bunch of Uni Watch readers came up with good proposals to redesign those jerseys about a year ago (from Patrick J. Williams). … In honor of some of those Hall of Famers, the Padres will wear a Trevor Hoffman patch for a weekend, and the Angels will use this Vlad Guerrero logo throughout the season, although so far there’s no indication that they’ll wear it as a patch (from Brady Phelps). … Vlad said he will wear an Angels hat on his plaque, making him the first player to ever do so. … Pete Rose put together a basketball team made up of Reds players after the 1969 season. They toured the Cincinnati area playing games to raise money, and their jerseys had sleeves! (From our own Alex Hider.) … The Braves have released their 2018 promotional schedule. … The Colorado Springs Sky Sox, Triple-A Affiliate of the Brewers, will wear six different throwback uniforms this season. … The Charlotte Knights, Triple-A affiliate of the White Sox, are changing game times from 7:05 to 7:04 for the 2018 season. Why? Because the Charlotte area code is 704 (from Mike Chamernik). … New uniforms for Arkansas and Nevada (from Damon Hirschensohn, Matt Snyder). … Kentucky will debut new blue and BFBS jerseys this season. … Former Mets P Doc Gooden showed up for an online Q&A session wearing a New York Giants Lawrence Taylor jersey (from Alan Kreit). … New uniforms for the Rakuten Golden Eagles.

College Football News: UCF used to have a half-human, half-orange mascot called the Citronaut. Info on the school’s name and mascot changes here (from Noah DuPont). … Boise State WR Cedric Wilson has an old BSU logo on his helmet at the Senior Bowl (from @bsuorganecrush). … Cross-listed from the NFL section: Reader John Kuhl found a construction truck with various NFL and college helmets attached to the back rack. … Boy, this 1947 New Mexico media guide is plain (from Frank ).

Hockey News: The Coyotes have 29 sweaters hanging in their arena (from @TheRealBirdGang). … The Watertown Wolves of the Federal Hockey League wore jerseys featuring newspaper clips from their 2014 championship season as part a night sponsored by the local paper last night. More info can be found here (from Gordon Block). … Loyola University Chicago’s women’s team has a new look.

NBA News: We got our first official look at the All-Star jerseys last night, and they’re exactly what the earlier leaks had shown. More info here (from Pritni Sandhu). … The Heat wore the “Miami Vice” alternates last night (thanks Phil). … The Mavs will debut their black alternates tonight. … Viceland’s Desus and Mero hit on Cavs F LeBron James reaching 30,000 points earlier this week, and they used outdated logos for both the Cavaliers and Spurs (from Jay). … Sticking with outdated logos, Jim Jeitler was renewing his passport when he noticed the State Department used an old Warriors logo in their testimonials section. … Here’s a behind-the-scenes video touring the Hornets’ facility. The video mentions Charlotte will have white throwbacks next season (from Joshua Edney). … Check out this old Sporting News cover photo that shows Magic and Kareem wearing mismatched jerseys. … Warriors G Steph Curry ran a Twitter poll asking fans which color tights the team should wear with its new “The Bay” alternate uni.

Soccer News: The Philadelphia Union revealed their new kit and badge yesterday (from Ryan Schwepfinger). … Here are the kits for Bugeaters FC of the UPSL (from Ed Zelaski). … Stevenage FC is letting fans vote on the team’s 2018-19 home and road kits (from The Boot Room). … AIK has switched to Nike and put out an all-black shirt inspired by what the team wore in 1901. “Worth noting that there’s no advertiser on this new shirt,” says Ed Zelaski. … New kit for Real Salt Lake (from Ed LeBaron). … “You mentioned earlier this week how Arsenal’s new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan would have to wear two different numbers because of the rules governing European competitions,” says Denis Hurley. “While it’s a rare phenomenon, there are some other instances of it happening.”

Grab Bag: In honor of their head coach, who likes to wear sweater vests, Nebraska’s wrestling team is giving away sweater vests on Sunday (from Aaron). … Major League Rugby, a new rugby circuit, released its inaugural set of home and road kits (from Eli Davis).

I agree with Paul on this one, let’s see how they look on the field first, also I want to know how <a href="http://“>Tom Selleck feels about this change too. The only actor I know of to actually hit a home run in Tiger Stadium for real. (real batting practice anyways).

My opinion is that Tom Selleck started the whole licensed cap craze. You couldn’t buy a fitted, MLB cap anywhere in 1981 (I know, I worked in a mall in NJ). Once his show took off, everyone wanted that “Magnum cap,” and fitted caps from most MLB teams started appearing in sporting good stores.

PaulS|
January 26, 2018 at 11:14 am |

Au contraire, mon frere; I distinctly recall owning a couple of fitted MLB caps around 78-80, including an Expos cap purchased around Montreal (tags were bilingual).

RS Rogers|
January 26, 2018 at 12:27 pm |

I don’t recall seeing fitted MLB caps on the heads of my Gen-X peers until circa 1990-91. And at first, the fad didn’t seem to be for fitted on-field MLB caps in general, but for the then-new White Sox and then Rockies caps in particular. Fitted Sox and Rox caps were widely available at Malls in early 1990s Minnesota, even while the actual Twins team stores didn’t regularly carry fitted Twins caps. It was mid-1990s before I recall seeing fitted Twins caps around the Twin Cities.

However, snapback caps with the look of on-field caps have been common for as long as I can remember, including fads among Gen-X children for the Reds, Orioles, and flat-top Pirates in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

MJ|
January 26, 2018 at 11:08 pm |

Got my first fitted hat in 1984. I was 9.

Jon Rose|
January 26, 2018 at 1:33 pm |

I had a Yankees fitted cap in ’81. I bought it at one of the shops across the street from The Stadium.

DenverGregg|
January 26, 2018 at 9:03 am |

Love that Sky Sox jersey with Socko the Sock.

I’ll miss the ‘D’ that the Tigers used on their jersey. It’s a pleasing design, but it probably wouldn’t work as well on the caps.

The NBA All-Star jerseys are pretty bland, and not in a good way. Even better, the marketing drivel mentions how Nike/Jordan set out to make “a jersey that looks just as good on the court as off it.” I suppose much of modern uniform outfitting is about the company selling merchandise, but it’s unsettling to see them be so open about it. I’m curious to see how well they actually sell, not necessarily because of the uninspired design (there’s no accounting for taste, after all), but because of the Kia ad patch. There’s still a bit of a stigma associated with the Korean automakers, so perhaps that will deter some purchases.

The Kia patch is not new. Third consecutive year that’s it’s appeared on the ASG unis.

RS Rogers|
January 26, 2018 at 9:10 am |

A shame the Tigers are ditching the superior jersey D in favor of the inferior cap D. And it appears that they didn’t even actually achieve consistency – it looks like the cap D will continue to have a longer, more prominent “tail” on the bottom left of the logo than on the jersey.

It should be a basic rule of thumb for uni design: If you have to modify the cap logo to make it look good on the jersey, you have a bad cap logo. A jersey is a more forgiving canvass for fine detail than a cap, and yet the two most prominent teams that don’t match their logos use the more finely detailed version on the cap. That choice is just bad design. Hopefully, if the Yankees ever reconcile their mismatched logos, they’ll choose more wisely than the Tigers.

RS Rogers|
January 26, 2018 at 9:12 am |

“Canvas”, not “canvass”.

Jim Vilk|
January 26, 2018 at 9:12 am |

Standardizing the “D” makes sense from a variety of practical standpoints, but sometimes things can become too standardized, too sterile, too rote. It feels like something charming has been lost.

I came here to say something like that, but now I don’t have to. We’ll said, Paul, and I agree the Yankees need not follow in the Tigers’ footsteps…er, paw prints.

boxcarvibe|
January 26, 2018 at 9:52 am |

Yes, was about to cut-n-paste said quote and you beat me to it. I agree whole-heartedly. It wasn’t just charming, it was tradition. It was history. But the Tigers brass have no affection to history. Even the retired numbers on the CF wall are in a font the Tigers never used. A quote from the Detroit Free Press said the Tigers and MLB worked on this change. Can’t wait till MLB stipulates that all baseball stadiums should have uniform fence distances.

PaulS|
January 26, 2018 at 11:36 am |

I’m here to argue the polar opposite point: I believe that changing the insignia on the jersey is sacrilege. According to Okkonen, the Tigers have used that D (not something like it, THAT SAME STYLE) since 1934. Over that time, the image on the cap has changed at least a dozen times. Realistically, if they were going to change anything (and I’m firmly in the NO change camp), it should have been to change the cap. To be blunt, the cap style D on the jersey looks cheap, like a Chinese knock-off. If the old jersey was a tuxedo, the new one is a black T-shirt with a tuxedo print.

I don’t believe for a moment that MLB was a co-conspirator in making the change; this has been about the Ilitch organization since Mike Ilitch passed. Prior to 2016, they used the jersey style D as a primary logo; the Tigers then changed it to the cap style D. IF MLB was an instigator in this, and yet they’re not making the Yankees conform in the same way?

Re: Yankees inconsistent logos. Didn’t the cap and helmet logos match til about the mid 70s? Then they changed to what they have on the cap now. Also, they enlarged the cap NY in the early 90s and no one made a peep about it; back then it was just a uniform tweak all teams did without fanfare. How times have changed….

Steve|
January 26, 2018 at 9:38 am |

I’ve always liked the Tigers jersey “D” more, so I’m sad to see it go.

On another note, I know it’s been discussed before that the HOF jerseys are not the greatest, but is it known why they look so much like the Phillies alternate jerseys? From the piping to the Phillies custom Scriptwurst typeface, it’s nearly identical. It seems odd the HOF would continue to use jerseys that look so much like one particular team as opposed to having a look that’s neutral.

Greg|
January 26, 2018 at 9:40 am |

Supposedly the new XFL is going to be the antithesis of the original. Tone down the violence and sex, more family friendly. So if it will be less outlandish and more old fashioned middle America, could we possibly see uniforms looking more like the Packers, Bears, Raiders, Chiefs, Colts, etc? One can only hope. Maybe a design the XFL contest once the 8 cities are announced?

The Las Vegas Outlaws name and logo were the only good ones among the original teams. Uniform wasn’t bad either, though it was pretty much a copy of the Saints, with some red thrown in.
With St Louis and San Diego abandoned there are some good football-less markets to go after.
Now seems like a good time to strike as the protest hubbub, overall greed of owners, etc have annoyed many fans. Hopefully this can stick around as a long term springtime minor league.

Ryan M|
January 26, 2018 at 11:51 am |

That’s my hope, that they don’t try to go after and destroy the NFL. It could be used as a developmental league for younger players, or somehow complement/replace the NCAA (at least for those that are only there for the emphasis on the latter word in ‘student-athlete’).

Scott Johnston|
January 26, 2018 at 9:47 am |

The Tigers also had three different “D” logos (jersey, hat & helmet) until sometime in the early to mid-1990s, when they standardized the hat and helmet logos

“Vlad said he will wear an Angels cap, even though it should be an Expos cap, reflecting the organization he came up with, and where he spent the most seasons with any club.”

Fixed that for you. ;-)

Derek Linn|
January 26, 2018 at 11:07 am |

In the video showing the Royals’ TATC unis, it certainly looks like Johnny Damon’s helmet logo was crooked. Is that on purpose or by accident?

Leigh|
January 26, 2018 at 11:40 am |

On purpose. I have a game used Royals helmet from that game and it looks exactly like that what with the crooked logo.

Steve Rocker|
January 26, 2018 at 11:17 am |

I would love to see Detroit go back to the old road uni’s from the Willie Horton days – with the block lettering “DETROIT” and the sleeve/tv numbers, and no orange trim – just a basic road uni style that is sorely missed. I love the uniformity of the cap and jersey Old English “D”.
also- I think the Yankees caps and helmets would look awesome with matching jersey wishbone “Y” logos while we’re talking change here…
And while I’m on a roll, can’t anyone impose a dress code in MLB? there used to be strict rules regarding sleeve length stirrup length, bagginess of jerseys, after all thats why they call it “uniform”. Baggy untucked unbuttoned jerseys, pajama pants going past the spikes, baggy potato sack pants, sideways hats in game use, seems there no respect for the uniform or the game anymore- just my opinion.

Jon Rose|
January 26, 2018 at 1:41 pm |

While the wishbone jersey version of the NY is far and away my favorite of the three, I think it would look weird on the cap. However, if the batting helmet \ wordmark version disappeared, I’d not shed a single tear.

John H.|
January 26, 2018 at 2:49 pm |

+1

Brent Nelson|
January 26, 2018 at 11:24 am |

For some reason the ‘pro-ness’ of the Detroit uniforms seems lost to me now. Looks like some amateur school unis now that the D’s match.

Brent Nelson|
January 26, 2018 at 11:27 am |

Also, the white outline on the road jersey is what really drives me nuts. It’s like their design team haphazardly threw them together and then got laid off permanently mid 90’s.

Daniel Hresko|
January 26, 2018 at 11:58 am |

Love the Bugeaters FC unis. Also, though the Olde-English Detroit “D” logo makes perfect sense on the unis, it strikes me as very odd-looking by itself on the page, out-of-context. Weird…

TIm|
January 26, 2018 at 12:10 pm |

This has probably been noticed already, but if they have the same design, Arkansas Little Rock will be a Nike school with a big “UA” in the upper left (you know, where the swoosh) goes. UA – Under Armour. HA.

Sara Schieve|
January 26, 2018 at 12:25 pm |

So the Seattle Major League Rugby team will be named Seawolves and have an orca as a logo? Not a marine biologist or anything but this seems wrong.

Special K|
January 26, 2018 at 1:01 pm |

Wikipedia tells me that “Seawolf” can refer to the South American sea lion, the wolffish, or the British Columbia wolf, none of which is an orca.

RS Rogers|
January 26, 2018 at 5:27 pm |

Wikipedia will also tell you that the natural range of orcas includes the coastal Pacific Northwest, that orcas live in the sea, and that orcas usually hunt in packs like wolves. As top predators with a complex social hierarchy, they really are the wolves of the sea. Given the local market context, I can’t object to this one.

brian|
January 26, 2018 at 1:00 pm |

Bummed for the Expos. Guess the Angels may one day have a Berra/Dickey, Jenkins/Maddux, Dawson/Staub combo if Mike Trout stays an Angel? Or will Trout change his uni number?

Dan Tenoff|
January 26, 2018 at 1:49 pm |

Tigers Exec #1: “Hey, this mismatched logo thing kinda bugs me. Can we make both the same?”
Tigers Exec #2: “We can take the D on the jersey and put it on the cap.”
Tigers Exec #1: “But wouldn’t we miss out on new jersey sales?”
Tigers Exec #2: “Then we’ll do vice versa.”
Tigers Exec #1: “Then we’ll miss out on cap sales?”
Tigers Exec #2: “Then let’s make the cap logo bigger.”
Tigers Exec #1: “Cha-ching!”

I’m not a fan either, for reasons I already spelled out in today’s lede, but I don’t think it’s fair or accurate to say they’re just doing it “for change’s sake.” Wanting your cap and jersey logos to match seems like a legitimate aim to pursue, even though I wish they hadn’t pursued it.

As a Tigers fan, I kind of want to see an alternate jersey. I think the Tigers would look good in either navy or orange. Kind of like this…

Winter|
January 26, 2018 at 9:54 pm |

I’d rather it matched the 80+ years of uni history

Darren|
January 26, 2018 at 2:33 pm |

The Tigers cap “D” is everywhere. Car stickers, tshirts, caps, tattoos, and on and on. You see it in Motown a lot more than the jersey D. I do like the jersey D, but I’m good with it matching the cap. To be honest, I ran this by several people at work and only one knew that the D’s were actually different. If you aren’t a hard core uni fan then I doubt many will notice. As for the cap, I really wanted to dislike the larger D, but it’ll now be in line with the logos on other team caps. Boston’s “B” for example, was a lot larger than the out-going “D”.

A new road jersey would be most welcomed. Either remove the white outline on the “Detroit” script or go back to the 80s block letters.

Block "O Canada"|
January 26, 2018 at 4:44 pm |

Proofreading:
“Shile it’s a rare phenomenon, there are some other instances of it happening.”
– While

Wouldn’t the too standardized, sterile, and rote argument against the Tigers changes be the same ones used to support the Cowboys mismatched color jamble for their white unis? Is there a reason those get (what seems to be) much more flak for not standardizing while the Tigers get more because they standardized?

Actually, I’m fine with the Cowboys’ mismatched colors, although I know other people aren’t.

Moreover, I think you’re making a bit of an apples/oranges comparison. Even a casual observer can see that the Cowboys’ colors don’t match. You don’t have to know anything about uniforms, or even care about football, to see that.

But the Tigers’ mismatched logos are much more subtle. Many MLB fans aren’t even aware of it. That’s part of the charm — it’s subtle, hiding in plain sight.

walter|
January 26, 2018 at 5:48 pm |

With respect to the Tigers’ “D”, the print terms “punk” and “bloat” have relevance here. “Punking” means to exaggerate corners as a way of reducing the sparkle of a light graphic rendered on a dark background. The “D” on the hat is plainly punked, like the interlocking “NY” of the Yankees’ cap, or the lettering of the Pirates and Giants. A different phenomenon takes place when putting a dark object on light fabric; the emblem can look wimpy or washed-out and needs fattening up or “bloating”. Think of the “NY” on the Yankees’ jersey or the Phillies’ script. A one-size-fits-all approach is simply lazy and doesn’t take the effects of light and color into consideration.

scott|
January 26, 2018 at 7:27 pm |

It’s interesting, I thought the Tigers actually had fun with the two different Old English D’s. At the ballpark, for instance, you’d see the team vary the use of the letters with no seeming rhyme or reason. Better this change than seeing another team adding another dark-colored softball jersey, which have to be among the most boring “innovations” of recent times.

Gary|
January 27, 2018 at 7:57 am |

As a lifelong Detroit fan, the changes to the home jersey and both caps saddens me. The “round-top” D is the older one, even used in the Western League. It was present in 1935, 1945, 1968, and 1984. The mismatch was a quirk, it was a tradition. The “spike-top” D leaves too much white space on the jersey. I hope this is just a repeat of 1960’s Tigers script logo and the team goes back to the “round-top” in 2019.

If they wanted to change a jersey, that’s what the road jersey is for. I will never buy this new, terrible home version.

And I cannot believe a Tiger fan did not know about the difference. Really???

Making the logo on the cap larger, with the New Era logo on the side, looks cheap, gimmicky, and forced. It looks horrible, especially with the puffy 3-D stitching. It’s a good thing I have a bought up every 1980s, 1990s, and modern cap without the New Era logo I can find.

Both moves are terrible and I really hope Chris Ilitch keeps his hands off of the Red Wings’ logo and does not update the wheel to look like a modern version.

I knew we wouldn’t be able to recognize this team in 2018, the first in over a decade without a real shot at a title. But now we really won’t be able to recognize them at all.

David Byrne|
January 29, 2018 at 8:27 pm |

As a huge Tiger fan, I agree with Paul and am very disappointed with the changes. Having 2 different D’s was the best if both worlds – you had a second logo that wasn’t contrived specifically for marketing purposes AND tradition! They should have left it alone. We can only hope this is like the 1960 script ‘Tigers’ , one year aberration – we hold our breath, avert our eyes, complain like crazy, and they switch back. We can pretend it never happened. Also, the larger cap D feels less dignified somehow. I understand Paul’s wait-and-see approach, but what if his beloved Mets made their interlocking N-Y larger and more garish?